The average price of a flat in England and Wales has breached the £250,000
mark, according to official figures, in another sign of the housing market
gaining momentum.

The average price of a flat now averages £250,101 across England and Wales, according to figures from the Land Registry.

The data also showed that the average price of all properties is around the same level at £242,415, after growing 1.3pc in the second quarter of this year.

It appears that the high price of property in the capital, where flats can change hands for millions of pounds, has inflated the figure for such homes. Overall, flats account for 18pc of the total housing market.

According to London Central Portfolio, investment advisors who crunched the data, the most expensive flat sold in the quarter was in the exclusive Kensington and Chelsea borough, at £13.25m.

The most expensive sale outside of London was a property in Weybridge, Surrey, for £8m. The cheapest property sold in the quarter was an address in Egremont, Cumbria, for just £7,000.

The numbers refers to the quarterly data from the Land Registry, which uses different methodology to the monthly house price index from the same source. The monthly index points to prices that are much lower.

The index tracks only properties that have changed hands twice since it began in 1995, so it can compare like with like. It is intended to be a gauge of house price growth, more than a reflection of the underlying average prices.